San Luis Obispo County Oklahoma Street temporary housing program officially shut down Monday
SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY, Calif. – The County of San Luis Obispo announced the official closure of the Oklahoma Parking Site, an overnight parking program located off Highway 1, on Tuesday.
The ten people remaining at the site voluntarily left on Monday, May 6 stated San Luis Obispo County Department of Social Services in a press releases about the closure.
According to the County of San Luis Obispo, the Oklahoma Parking Site was originally opened in August 2021 in response to rising rates of homelessness during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The overnight parking program location was off Highway 1 between San Luis Obispo and Morro Bay.
An original closure date was announced for March in February of this year.
The County of San Luis Obispo detailed that the site's closure continued after a ruling from U.S. District Court for the Central District of California was issued in favor of the county's actions in April of this year.
Following that ruling, plaintiffs from the suit and the County of San Luis Obispo entered a settlement agreement allowing the ten people still living at the site to remain until 5 p.m. Monday, May 6 explained the County of San Luis Obispo.
Additionally, the County of San Luis Obispo agreed to pay a total of $60,000 for temporary lodging and relocation assistance for those ten people as part of the settlement as well as store vehicles and personal property still on-site for 90 days detailed Tuesday's press release.
As part of the monetary assistance agreement, the California Homeless Union agreed to dismiss its appeal in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and to refrain from filing further motions to keep the parking site open.
However, the legal battle is not over.
Anthony Prince, a lawyer for the California Homeless Union, told your News Channel in a phone interview Wednesday that he plans to continue a separate civil rights lawsuit related to the treatment of residents who lived at the Oklahoma Avenue parking site.
Prince said he plans on filing an amended complaint against San Luis Obispo County in the future and is reaching out to former residents who might want to be added to the lawsuit.
